The Meaning of Sacrifice
by TyLeeChan
Summary: Aftermath: On awaking and finding he hasn't made the fabled journey to the Well of AllSparks, Prowl has to deal with watching friends grieve, listening to an old enemy taunt, and finding his purpose. Animated TFA Prowl Starscream Endgame Part 1


**Ah. After much procrastination it is finished. And I don't like it XD Sorry, the last like fourth of it is really rushed but I couldn't find any other way to end it (The ending is rather lame) . But I really wanted to write something for Prowl and Starscream, two of my favorite characters, so this is what I came up with. Beware, there are some rather lame SarixBumblebee interactions as well. A bit of RatchetxArcee too, but most of it is implied. But this is my first time writing anyone in the main cast (except Starscream) ever, so don't judge me XD I would rather the ending not be as it is, I would have liked to stop after Starscream's scene, but I opened up to many questions in the start that needed to be resolved in my mind, and then I complicated it further...oh well. My next oneshot will be better XDD Please bear the last half of the lame writing and review. **

**Rated T for: Cybertronian Cursing (Slag), Romance (Not too much), Character Deaths (Not my choice XD), And that's about it...**

* * *

"_You must not sacrifice a piece of the future to bring back the past. Someday when your time comes you will understand." _

The Plant had an eerie silence about it. Actually, all of Detroit seemed quieter. All of the humans were probably still in their houses, scared though the final battle was finally over. It didn't look like the city would ever fully recover from the fight between the Autobots and Decepticons. The streets still had craters from several missed shots from the Omega Supreme clones. Some buildings had lasting damage to it. The air still smelled of smoke.

Optimus looked over at Ratchet slowly.

"How much longer until its ready?" He asked.

"Hm…may take a few more megacycles…I…I'm trying to make sure its, well…perfect…" Ratchet replied solemnly. Arcee placed her servo on his shoulder and his faceplate lightened a bit. Then he returned to his work.

On the couch where Bumblebee and Sari had often watched TV or played videogames now lay a cold grey shell. Under it was a slab of metal that Ratchet was now forming into a proper shellcase to carry the structure of their offlined comrade. Ratchet furiously molded the metal, cursing when it bent too far. He was right. He was trying to make it perfect.

But Prowl didn't want it perfect. He was touched by their dedication to his memory, but this felt a bit too much. At this point he almost wished he hadn't been so close to them. If he hadn't been, then maybe his sacrifice wouldn't have made this negative impact.

Arcee returned her attention to Bulkhead, who had taken to sobbing in the corner of the room.

"Bulkhead, don't cry. He's gone to the Well of All Sparks. It's a better place there." She consoled. Prowl was surprised at her comfort. He had never been able to meet her while he was online, and thus she had no obligation to feel any sorrow for him. And yet, there she was, mourning with the rest of his teammates. He wondered if Ratchet had told her about him. The two of them were rather close…

"Is it really?" Bulkhead asked after wiping some oil from his viz scanners.

"Of course it is. I was a teacher after all, I know all about it." She reassured with a kind smile. Bulkhead smiled back.

Oh, if only she knew how wrong she was. Prowl was _not_ in the Well of All Sparks, though that is where he expected to go. It had given him a shock to open his viz scanners and realize he was still in Detroit. Well…not entirely still in Detroit. After much thought he realized that he was merely an energized outline of himself; a ghost in human standards.

At first he thought this was a mistake, but soon found otherwise. In this state he rescued Prime from the explosion of the Omega Supreme clone. He had proven some use. At the time he figured that that was the only reason he was still there and waited to be taken to the Well of All Sparks. Still, nothing happened. He sat in the street, waiting for a few cycles. Finally, he gave up, and went back to his former home.

It still bothered him though. Why was he still here, if it wasn't only to save Prime? He must have some purpose in remaining in Detroit. Hopefully he would find the answers within his comrades.

Jazz had been meditating ever since Prowl arrived there. He knew the `bot must be taking this hard. He had been there when Prowl made the decision. He probably felt guilty for letting him sacrifice himself or for not doing it himself. Prowl knew, however, that after Jazz looked in himself some more he would understand why he did it. He was clever and knew where Prowl got his inspiration from.

Prime had been going around, talking to everybot about what had happened. Occasionally he would go and check on the Decepticons who were stowed inside Omega Supreme. They had gotten free before, and thus security should not be slacked in the shadow of their victory. He was the only `bot who seemed to keep a straight faceplate during the whole ordeal. Prowl admired this quality of their leader. He tried to set an example for the others.

Bulkhead so far showed the most emotion. Prowl wondered if he would go into stasis with all the oil he was leaking. He hadn't really expected anything less of the `bot. He was rather sensitive, and Prowl had given him special attention at times. He had tried to teach him some ninja maneuvers, unsuccessfully, and had trusted him to keep the secret of the Dinobots, unsuccessfully. He hoped the sadness wouldn't last long, though. Bulkhead should be proud. He had helped take down Shockwave, one of the most dangerous Decepticons out there. Though how he had done this still amazed Prowl.

And then there was Ratchet. Prowl was a bit surprised at his behavior. The usually crusty old medibot now wore his feelings on his sleeve in human terms. With every tremble of his structure, every curse that came out of his mouth, Prowl knew he was very upset. He had the feeling that Ratchet thought that he had been a bit rash and stupid in his sacrifice. And at the same time he was proud and saddened. Arcee's presence probably hindered some of the things Ratchet wished to do.

"Looks like you are missed." A voice called from behind Prowl. Prowl didn't react at first, figuring it was directed to one of the `bots in the room. However, none of the `bots seemed to hear the words, as they went on doing as they had before. Prowl stiffened as it continued, "I bet my shell is still lying on the road where it fell. Or maybe they disposed of it. Not that I expected treatment as luxurious as this."

He recognized that voice. Who wouldn't? Its whiny undertone made it very distinguishable. Prowl turned around.

"Starscream." He said coolly. The Decepticon smiled.

"Ah, so I am not so easily forgotten. I couldn't tell by looking at them." He gestured to the rest of the Autobots.

"So…you are still here too?"

"No. I just appear to be offline." Starscream replied sarcastically.

Prowl didn't respond, processing the recent change of events. If Starscream was also here than he must also have further purpose, perhaps even the same one as he. This could make it easier in retrieving answers.

"Do you know why we are like this?"

"Why should I? I actually thought you would know by now, oh great-and-mighty Autobot." He made a dramatic bow, and Prowl knew he was mocking him. It irritated him that he would make fun during a serious matter.

"Well, don't you want to know? It's a bit odd that we aren't in the Well of All Sparks, is it not?" Prowl asked slowly, trying not to let his anger show. Starscream seemed to ponder for a nanoclick.

"No, not really…As long as I'm still here, that means I can continue what I started." He sneered.

"What you started…?" Prowl was confused. Before the `con could reply, though, a voice interrupted them.

"Hey guys…I'm back." It was Sari. She was walking into the Plant, a tired expression on her face. She had left earlier when Prowl had arrived to go back to see her father, who was worried sick about her well-being. Her long absence was probably provoked by her father asking about everything that happened. Knowing Sari, she would go into detail about all she knew.

"Hi Sari." Bulkhead replied, all of the oil removed from his faceplate.

"Hi Bulkhead, you feeling better?" She asked hopefully. Instead of getting the positive answer she wanted, Bulkhead replied by burying his faceplate into his servos and restarting his crying, "Oh, Bulkhead, I'm sorry! I shouldn't have asked that!" She walked over to comfort him at the same time that Arcee did.

"No…i-it's my fault…I'm s-such an…oil-leaking protoform!" He assured between sobs. Prowl watched, helpless as he continued to leak. This was painful to not be able to do anything for the poor `bot. Fortunately, Arcee _was_ able.

"It's completely rational for you to feel this way, Bulkhead. You don't need to hide it." Arcee said with a smile, "Sari, leave this to me, okay? Why don't you go check up on Bumblebee?" This came as a bit of a shock to Sari.

"Bumblebee? What's wrong with him?" She asked, alarmed.

"He won't come out of…_his_ room." Arcee put emphasis on 'his' and nodded toward Bulkhead. Sari understood, as did Prowl.

"Got it." Sari ran off down the hall. Prowl watched, longing to follow. Then again, why couldn't he? Oh yeah, that was right. He turned back to Starscream, whom he had temporarily forgotten was there. The `con had a look of resentment at Arcee and glee at Bulkhead's pain. Prowl wanted to slag him right then, but knew even if he could it was a bad choice.

"Starscream, I'm going to go check on Bumblebee too." He informed.

"That's great. Why are you telling me this? It not like you're my keeper or anything…" Starscream replied in his usual manner.

"I'm expecting you to not to do anything troublesome…"

"Like I could."

"…and stay here, I'm not finished with you."

"Oh, how scary. What are you going to do if I disobey? Throw a ninja star through me? That sounds painful." He thrust his own servo through his chassis, as if to prove his point.

"Just stay here." And before he could listen to another one of Starscream's awful taunts, Prowl walked through an adjacent wall and entered his room.

It felt completely normal to be back in his room; other than the fact that he stepped through a wall in order to arrive. He nodded as he passed his collection of bonsai trees, swords, and various posters. But what made it most like home to him was the large tree that took up about a sixth of the area.

He remembered when he had first chosen this room as his own. The whole group had been exploring their new home, the two youngest `bots brimming with excitement. Bumblebee had practically raced through every corridor, taking in every sight. The others had followed, a bit reluctantly at the time. The speedster had a compliment to say of every room they passed…until they reached this particular one.

"_Oh great. Look, they have some kinda nature contamination in this one. That…'tee' completely broke through the wall. Eww!" _

"_It's called a '_tree_'_, _Bumblebee." _

"_Of course __**you**__ would know, Prowl. Anyways, let's get rid of it. There's enough of them outside." _

This blatant ignorance to the fact of the diminishing tree population and his nerve to destroy this particular one had angered Prowl, something not too unusual at the time. He refused to let anybot lay a servo on the tree, even though Bumblebee tried every few cycles. Finally, in order to stop the feud between the two of them, Prime had given full ownership of the room to Prowl, much to Bumblebee's dismay.

Now Bumblebee stood where Prowl had often, directly in front of the tree. Prowl had come out behind him, and thus could not read his expression. His dragging posture, however, confirmed that he was upset.

Sari slowly walked through the divider in the doorway. She approached Bumblebee tentatively, probably hoping not to cause another Bulkhead-like reaction. Prowl wouldn't blame her. Though her steps were easily heard in the quiet room, Bumblebee made no acknowledgement of her entrance. She breathed in, and began to speak.

"Bumblebee…I-" She was cut off quickly.

"He really wasn't that uptight." Bumblebee said without turning toward her.

"What?" She took this verbal notice to mean she was allowed to approach her friend, which she did. She stood beside him. Prowl decided that it would also be appropriate for him to come closer, not that they probably cared.

"He wasn't that uptight. I always thought he was, but now that I think about it he wasn't. He never was irritable with you or Ratchet or anybot else really. It was just with…me." He turned and looked at her, a serious expression on his faceplate, "I never really thought about his feelings. I just took every chance I could to tick him off so I could have some fun."

"Bumblebee…"

"I don't think I was ever really nice to him. Just used him…but he tried to be nice to me. I was just so slaggin' annoying that he never really got many chances. And if I noticed I probably told him off for being 'out of character'…" He frowned and returned his attention to the tree, "I remember when we first came here; to the Plant I mean. I wanted to get rid of this tree and Prowl wouldn't let me. Everybot else sided with him and I remember I was so angry…I thought he was a selfish glitchhead who cared more about nature than us."

"You didn't really mean it, Bumblebee." Sari reassured.

"But I did. Even after he became more sociable I always pestered him because he enjoyed organic life. Even…even last orbital cycle I made some remark about him and nature. But I…but I didn't know that…that he….you know…" Bumblebee's chestplate heaved in, "I'm the selfish glitchhead, not him."

Prowl was shocked. The whole ordeal was going in a direction he had not at all expected. His surprise to Ratchet's behavior was nothing compared to this. This contradicted Bumblebee so much. The young `bot never admitted to anything. Even when Wasp returned to extract his revenge Bumblebee had difficulty in taking responsibility for his plight.

Prowl had always assumed that since he and Bumblebee had polar opposite interests the `bot had decided to pick on him. At first he had simply done what Bumblebee had wanted and reacted angrily. But eventually he learned to get used to his comments and jeers and ignored them or replied with another comment. But he never thought that Bumblebee ever really thought about this so seriously. Prowl had understood he was just playing around even if it did get out of control sometimes.

"Well, sometimes you are," Sari replied playfully. Prowl waited for Bumblebee to say something smart-alecky back at her but he remained oddly silent, "but you really shouldn't be so hard on yourself. It's not like you did anything wrong."

"But what if I did? What if it was because of `bots like me that he was so ready to just leave?" Sari thought about this for a few nanoclicks.

"It is because of `bots like you that Prowl was ready to sacrifice himself." She insisted. Bumblebee scowled. "But not because you pestered him until he could handle no more. If he hadn't given up his spark, you, me, and all of Detroit would have been destroyed. If it hadn't been for his love for you he would not have saved you."

"Love?" Bumblebee made another face, to which Sari laughed.

"Not _that_ kind of love." She elaborated. Bumblebee loosened up in relief but didn't laugh.

"I didn't deserve it. I should've done it, not him."

"Look, Bumblebee, you are just suffering from survivor's guilt. For a few days its going to feel like everything is your fault. Unless you come to terms with reality now you will be stuck like this, miserable, forever."

"How do you know that `bots can have this…'survivor's guilt'?" Bumblebee asked suspiciously.

"If you haven't noticed most of your team members have. Remember what happened to Ratchet after we fought Lockdown? He was thinking about what had happened to Arcee and blaming it on himself. The same with Optimus and Blackarachnia. But they are better now, right?"

"They can still fix the `bots that they messed up." Bumblebee replied coldly, "Prowl is….he's…gone. And there is nothing I can do to change that…"

"You can be happy."

Both Prowl and Bumblebee looked at Sari a bit incredulously, the `bot that was still online more than the other.

"What are you talking about?" Bumblebee asked.

"Prowl wouldn't want you moping around the Plant blaming yourself all day long, would he? He would want you to be your normal, happy, talkative self." Bumblebee cracked a small smile at this, "He would want you to play video games, watch TV, go out and slag some Decepticon skidplates, all the usual stuff!"

Bumblebee looked down at Sari, his viz scanners wavering. He looked like he was using everything in his being to hold himself together. And now that everything had grown weak. It started with a small leak, but it quickly grew in volume. He immeadiately turned aside, hiding his faceplate.

"Slag it! ….I-I'm not supposed to…t-to act like such a protoform!" He managed to get out between sobs. "I'm….I'm as b-bad as B-Bulkhead! How will I be able t-to be happy?"

Sari touched his servo gently, causing him to look back at her.

"You're not alone, Bumblebee. You have Optimus, Ratchet, Bulkhead, Jazz, Arcee…" Her face turned a faint shade of red, "…and me. We'll help you, Bumblebee. I promise."

Bumblebee wiped the oil off and Prowl saw his faceplate grow red as well.

"Thanks, Sari…" He whispered, his voice still breaking, "I don't know what I would…uh…do without you." He stumbled over words and rubbed the back of his head with his servo.

"I think you would be a real mess without me." She grinned.

"You got that right."

The two of them stared at each other for a nanoclick, and their smiles widened. Slowly, Bumblebee took hold of Sari's hand, and her blush intensified. Prowl had witnessed events like this between organics and `bots alike and decided it would be best to leave them alone, even if his presence went by unnoticed. Slowly, and a bit hesitantly, he walked backwards out of his room just before Sari's lips connected with Bumblebee.

* * *

Starscream grumbled to himself as he trudged around the main room. How dare that ninjabot think he could boss him around!? Not only did he have absolutely no authority, but he had no means of enforcing his rules. And yet…Starscream wasn't disobeying…

He stopped walking when he realized this. Instead of waiting like a goody-two-stabilizing servos Autobot he should be making some sort of mischief. If anything it would make himself feel a bit better. He wouldn't admit it to that `bot, but he was a bit distressed about being offline. Of course, he had technically been offlined many times before; in fact, he had actually lost count. But this was the only time where it seemed the effects were permanent. As far as he could tell, he had no way of returning to his body.

Starscream looked around. There was no sign of that annoying ninjabot. That gave him liberty to go where he pleased…for the time. Quickly, he ran out through one of the walls into the outside. He squinted as the sunlight filled his viz scanners. That was odd. Everything else seemed to pass through him but somehow light still affected him. He never did like the sun though. Made it too easy to be seen when he was online.

His prize was lying in front of him. He practically danced over to the still form of Omega Supreme, who no doubt was taking a stasis nap at the time. He passed through into the giant living ship. Past experience made him stop and wait for a security alarm to go off, and then he remembered his current state. He sneered. All too perfect. He strode down to the main brig, where the real prize was kept.

Megatron, Lugnut, and Shockwave were all sprawled out on the floor with stasis cuffs fastened around their servos. In addition to his stasis cuffs Megatron was also strapped to a metal sheet to further his humiliation. The `bots had also not taken care to attend to any of the `cons damage and all three were leaking energon profusely. None of them seemed in the mood for talking, and remained silent. Starscream approached Megatron boldly.

"Hello, old friend. It seems that even though you are online and I am not, I still have the last laugh." He then took the opportunity to laugh loudly and a bit obnoxiously. Megatron of course didn't reply. He probably wouldn't have even if he had heard.

Starscream then began to feign fighting the Decepticon leader, which consisted of pointing his null rays and some servo-to-servo combat. He knew that this would have no effect on the `con, since he had tried and failed to inflict damage on Autobots earlier, but it gave him some satisfaction. He delivered a blow to the spark chamber, a very vulnerable point, to the servo, and finally, to the faceplate. Starscream was not at all surprised when his own servo flew through his head. What happened next was a bit surprising.

Instead of going completely through Megatron, like Starscream did with most objects, his servo stopped moving through and connected with something inside. He froze, not comprehending what just happened. Megatron had gone more rigid, if that was even possible with one wearing stasis cuffs, and twitched his head as if he could shake Starscream's servo off. Starscream gasped. Megatron could feel him!

"What was that?" Megatron asked. Shockwave and Lugnut turned their viz scanners toward their leader, Lugnut having the worst view since he could not move his head.

"What was what?" Shockwave asked, confused.

"I'm…not sure." Megatron admitted, "It feels like something is grabbing my processor."

Processor…that was it! Starscream grinned. He was inside Megatron's processor! He moved his servo around, suddenly aware that he could hear Megatron's thoughts.

_I shouldn't say anything else on this matter. These two probably already think I'm weak because of our defeat. I can't let them think I'm going insane…_

"Oh…but Megatron, this is only the start of your 'insanity'…" Starscream insisted as he continued to probe through Megatron. This time when Starscream spoke, Megatron jolted, his viz scanners widening. On recognizing his voice they furrowed in contempt. So he could hear him now! If this was truly happening, then perhaps he could activate certain parts of his processor so that he could control…

These hopes were soon crushed. Megatron seemed to have a faint understanding of what was happening and somehow created a kind of wall around his processor. Starscream was flung out, and he landed on the floor. Starscream was a bit unsure of how he was denied further entry, but he assumed since Megatron had a rather strong processor he wasn't allowed to stay in.

Starscream felt a bit discouraged at the notion that he could not somehow bring revenge on his long-time nemesis. Well…perhaps he should try somebot else…

He walked over to Shockwave and began to press his servo into his processor, only to also be not allowed to enter. This was expected. As Shockwave was a double agent he probably had much security on his processor. That left the final and most vulnerable member of the captured Decepticons left. Lugnut. Though Starscream doubted if he even had a processor.

Starscream proceeded to reach into the mudflap's processor, finding it much easier than the previous `con's. Lugnut tensed for a nanoclick but allowed him to search around a bit.

"Don't worry, Lugnut. I'm not going to hurt you." Starscream said menacingly. It took about half a cycle for Lugnut to realize what he had just heard.

"Star…scream…!?" He blurted. This grabbed Megatron's attention quickly, whilst Shockwave just remained dumbfounded.

"What is it, Lugnut?" Megatron asked, trying not to let his eagerness show.

"I'm…not sure my liege…I could've sworn I heard…"

Starscream finally looked around long enough to figure out what part of the processor controlled what part of Lugnut. He focused on a certain section, which he was pretty certain controlled speech. He grinned. It was time to have some fun.

Lugnut only twitched slightly and kept his mouth open when he activated that part of the processor. Starscream paused, then spoke.

"...an old friend." Lugnut's mouth was moving but Starscream's voice emanted from it. Both Megatron and Shockwave involuntarily gasped. "Hello, Megatron, did you miss me?" He grabbed hold of a certain circuit and made Lugnut smile sarcastically.

"You…you are supposed to be offline." Shockwave said, as if reassuring himself.

"Whoever said I wasn't?"

Megatron remained silent. Instead of replying he just stared at Lugnut in disgust. Starscream was ecstatic. He had seen that look before. He was irking Megatron, and the old `con could do nothing to stop it. This was a pleasure he had been waiting to have for a long time. Now…if only Lugnut wasn't stasis cuffed. Then perhaps he could actually attack Megatron. Or maybe he could use one of the Autobots to…

Once more he was ejected from the processor he was in, a bit more forcefully this time. It came as the biggest shock of all so far. Lugnut could not have the defenses that Megatron and Shockwave possessed. So how did he….?

A figure loomed over him. Starscream looked up and frowned.

"You."

* * *

Prowl had not at all expected Starscream to do what he had told him. In fact, he would have suspected something if the `con hadn't disobeyed. So when he returned to the main room to find that he was missing he was not at all surprised. Instinctively, he went to where Starscream would most like to wreak havoc; on his fellow Decepticons.

Prowl had entered Omega Supreme slowly, feeling awkward trespassing on a friend taking a stasis nap. On the way there he had passed Prime walking even slower towards Omega Supreme. No doubt he was going to check on the prisoners. Hopefully Starscream hadn't caused too much damage that it would be noticeable. Once on board he headed straight for the main brig to witness what Starscream had been up to.

He shouldn't have guessed anything less than what had happened. He had actually considered if it would have been possible to enter the processor like this, and Starscream had proved it excellently. Unfortunately, with Prime approaching the prisoners Prowl could not allow Starscream to experiment further. Without much thought he had grabbed the `con and pulled him out before his leader could see Lugnut acting strangely. He doubted that the other `cons would mention the ordeal to Prime; it would make them sound a few circuits loose.

Starscream was now staring at him, loathing in his viz scanners.

"You." He snarled.

"Sorry," Prowl replied quickly, though he didn't really mean it, "I couldn't let you keep on doing that." This made Starscream angrier and he pointed his servo at Prowl's faceplate.

"Do you realize how long I've been waiting for an opportunity like this!? For too many stellarcycles I've been forced to sit and watch and be foiled! But not this time!!" He ran forward through Prowl, which only caused a tingling sensation in his chassis. Once realizing this had no effect at all, Starscream turned around and scowled, "I can't even take out my revenge on you, save even trying on Megatron…"

"What would you plan to do to take your revenge? I don't think these Decepticons are in any position to be used effectively." Prowl motioned to the stasis cuffs. Starscream paused. The silence lasted a few nanoclicks.

"I actually thought you had some circuitry in that processor of yours," He smiled, "There are other means of getting revenge. I see one coming our way."

Prowl turned unconsciously to see what Starscream was referring to. It was then he noticed Prime had finally entered the main brig and was headed toward the Decepticons and, to a lesser extent, them. Starscream took advantage of his turning and ran passed him towards Prime. Prowl gasped. He couldn't let him get Prime. Prowl reached forward, attempting to take hold of his stabilizing servos. He knew that this would be impossible, but he might as well try.

His servos connected with the stabilizing servos and held fast. Prowl blinked. Starscream fell midair and struggled to get out of his reach. Prime, on the other hand, continued to walk over and check on the `cons.

"How are you…?" Starscream asked as he writhed on the ground, "…That doesn't matter. Get off of me!"

"I can't let you use Prime."

"I said get off of me!"

"No!"

"If you won't let go I'll…" Starscream froze and then screamed in pain, "What are you doing, ninjabot!? OW! Stop it! Get off of me! You're burning my chassis!!"

Upon hearing the genuine cry of an injured `con, Prowl withdrew his servos. Starscream sighed and allowed himself to go limp. It was then Prowl noticed the burn marks on the `con's stabilizing servos, an exact imprint of his own grasp. What had he done? And how had he done it?

"I see you still search for answers, Prowl." A voice called. Both Starscream and Prowl turned toward it, only to be greeted by a blinding light. Prowl covered his viz scanners, but recognized the voice almost immeadiately.

"Master…Yoketron?" He asked hesitantly. The light faded away and Prowl deemed it safe to look again. He was met with the faint outline of his former sensei.

"Yes Prowl. It is I." He said warmly. Prowl felt hope rush through him once more. If Yoketron was here, surely he knew what was happening. He could explain their absence from the Well of All Sparks. Yoketron laughed. "Well, of course I can. If you want me to, that is."

"What the spark is he talking about? And who is he?" Starscream asked, irritated.

"Your friend doesn't seem to share your initiative." Yoketron pointed out plainly.

"Oh believe me, we're not friends." Starscream made sure to inform Yoketron.

"Well, I believe you have waited long enough, Prowl. I have been allowed to come and ease your mind about your situation. It is no mistake that you are not dwelling in the Well of All Sparks as I am." He sighed, and continued, "When you sacrificed yourself, your spark was not extinguished, but simply joined the other fragments in creating the new Allspark, or the Matrix as they are coming to call it. The same with the fragment that was keeping him online." Yoketron motioned to Starscream.

"Starscream." He said indignantly.

"The Well of All Sparks is limited only to those whose sparks are extinguished and cannot return to them. As your sparks now reside in the Matrix, you remain here. But do not think this an undesirable fate. I have watched you as you viewed your friends with sadness, and am sure you probably prefer going to the Well of All Sparks. But as you assumed earlier, both you and Starscream have a greater purpose."

"So I was right…Tell me, Yoketron, does it have to do with…" Prowl began, but he didn't finish. He didn't want to bring up what he had seen Starscream doing with Lugnut.

"What you do in this state is your choice. Nobot except you two can stop the other from doing whatever they desire. Starscream has displayed one of the many abilities that you have now acquired. While he used it to his own benefit, it is possible to use the same ability for a greater cause."

"What do you mean?"

"Entering a `bot's processor can allow you control over that `bot. But you can also use it as a communication device. I'm sure Starscream can explain this further." Yoketron looked at Starscream expectantly.

"Well…I was able to talk to Megatron and he could probably talk back when I was in his processor." He admitted, though unwillingly it seemed.

"Exactly. You can be a resourceful ally to your comrades by encouraging them with your words or memory. And once you recognize your other abilities you will see how much of a help you can truly be."

"Other abilities? Master, I'm confused." Prowl replied. "How can I stop Starscream?" Starscream made a face at this.

"You've just done it nearly a nanoclick ago, Prowl. Or have you already forgotten?" Yoketron squinted, "When your intentions are driven by your spark, you can do anything."

Prowl remembered his servos burning Starscream and nodded.

"But what if I want to stop him?" Starscream asked.

"I'm afraid it would take a lot of effort for you to truly realize what is right in your spark." Yoketron replied. This angered Starscream, but he didn't answer. "I'm afraid my time is up, Prowl. But I'm sure with this information in your processor, you will be able to piece together the rest of the puzzle ahead of you." Prowl watched helplessly as the form of his master dematerialized right in front of him.

"So…now what are we going to do?" Starscream asked, breaking the silence Yoketron's leaving had caused.

"We do…what we know is right in our sparks." Prowl replied. And he left it at that.

* * *

**The ending still makes me upset that I couldn't do better, but oh well. I decided that since in almost every other series Starscream has a ghost and posseses (spelled horrendously wrong) `bots that I could like impliment that here, but the terminology is lame (I like that word XD). And the Yoketron scene was weird...but as I said I wanted to explain Prowl's 'further purpose'. **

**This whole idea came from something I read on some forum where someone said something on the lines of 'now the new allspark has both Prowl's and Starscream's personality in it because of their imprinted sparks' and I got the idea instantly. It took me several times to start writing. At first it started witha rewrite of the scene where Prowl dies. Then I tried again with him and a complaining Starscream walking to the Plant. Finally I settled for this, and I actually like the start. I also like my Bumblebee scene, which is something I had planned from the start. It seemed that Sari and BB and Jazz were the only ones who reacted on screen to his death, so I felt that both Sari and BB would have a lasting reaction. **

**Okay, I was a bit ticked off at the finale. First, it was like too short. We didn't see what happened to like anybody!!! Where did Wreck-Gar, Waspinator, Blackarachnia, the Jettwins, Blitzy and the clones, Swindle, Lockdown, and other peeps whoa ren't coming to mind now go? MOST IMPORTANTLY WHAT WAS THE FINAL FATE OF BLURR!? I'm fine if he died, I just want to be confirmed or at least have somebot say 'Hey, where'd Blurr go?'. Also, Sari's origins were poorly explained. Let me rephrase that. They were not explained. She just saw a protoform and went 'hey I was like that once' and it stopped. Oh well. **

**Next fic is a Jettwins one for all you Jettwins fans and is a sequel of sorts to Degrees of Seperation and another fic that I won't say in order to save spoiling. Also, if you have any ideas for fics about Blitzwing that you want me to do tell me, because I can't think of one to save my life and I really want to do one! He's going to be in the next one but only for a second and with minimal dialouge. I'm also going to leave the next one open for a sequel with Blitzy in it, so if you want to save your ideas till then that's fine too...**

**If I don't write another fic before ROTF, well...ROTF is coming XD I can't wait!!! Except Jason Griffith (the latest voice of Sonic and Shadow from Sonic, who is a fail voice actor) is supposedly playing Sideswip. 0.0'' That will not be pleasant. Su Blu is gonna be Arcee and Tom Kenny is Wheelie and one of the twins (I mix up their names and sometimes say Mud and Skidflap on accident XD. He's the green one though). So I'm excited. I'm waiting to see it the day after though...**

**Well, review and critique and thank you for enduring my ranting typing spree XD**


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